Bringing strategy to life

UffindellWest has been shortlisted for Transform 2010 Awards for the design of the new website for BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. The Awards will be held in March 2010.

2 February 2010, Cass Business School, London

Our Managing Director, Sholto Lindsay-Smith, presented ‘Brand Positioning for Future Success’ at the BrandFinance® Global Banking 500 event.

If you would like to find out more about the results of the latest BrandFinance® Global Banking 500 study published in the Banker magazine then please visit BrandFinance website. Or if you would like to find out more about our presentation then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

Higher Education Minister David Lammy has told universities they need to communicate their value better. Speaking to vice chancellors at the Universities UK Annual Members’ Conference, he said that universities were adept at marketing themselves internationally but the British public’s perception of them was ‘outdated’. Our own review shows that most university websites continue to function as online prospectuses. Universities need to be embracing the best of today’s web functionality to create websites that engage the wider community, serving all stakeholders - including taxpayers.

Read our full article on “Communication value online” or come along to our ‘Creating effective university websites’ lunch seminar on Friday 16th October where we’ll explore the approaches and techniques outlined in the article. Email digital@uffindellwest.com if you’d like to join us.

14-15 October 2009, The Tower Hotel, London

Would you like to hear the results of HSBC’s recent research on internal communication in global organisations? Key trends emerging from this exciting new research include the pivotal role of employee engagement within the function, and the increasing uptake of technology by internal communicators.

Sholto Lindsay-Smith, Managing Director at UffindellWest, and Cami Joerin, Internal Communications Director at UffindellWest, will be presenting with Jo Alexander, the Head of Group Internal Communications at HSBC, on their research findings at the UK Strategic Communication Management Summit in October in London.

If you are interested in hearing more about this event, then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

15 September 2009, London

This 1-day summit will help you to demonstrate the case for investment in employer branding, and will give you the tools to develop strategies that will set you apart from your competitors, while aligning your corporate and employer brand values. Featuring best practice presentations from John Lewis Partnership, Iceland and Coca-Cola Europe, the Employer Branding Summit 2009 is an essential networking and training event for today’s HR and communications professionals.

If you are interested in hearing more about this event, then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

Times are changing and so are the issues facing businesses. For some companies it may be a case of changing tactics, but for others it may require a rethink of your reasons for being.

The point is that standing still is not an option. You’ve got to move ahead of the game.

We believe companies need to apply some simple moves if they are to succeed against the challenges ahead. Moves that are easy to understand, quick to apply and have a lasting and positive affect.

It could mean reconnecting with your customers by demonstrating what makes what you do so special. And letting people know why it’s worth it – even though it might cost a little more.

Or it could simply be revitalising your communications by injecting a renewed sense of energy and direction for the messages you want to convey.

But increasingly, it’s about reaching people within your company – to remind them what makes your business a great place to work - and encourage them to show it in all they do.

Whatever aspects of your brand, marketing or communications are causing you concern our methods are geared for now. We’ll encourage you to be a part of the process so we don’t waste time searching for answers. Combining your inside knowledge with our insights and experience ensures that the recommendations we make are the ones you can deliver and live up to.

And time is of the essence if you want to be the one to thrive in this changing world.

Customers as well as employees are losing faith in business. They want – and need a reason – to trust in you again. Nearly half of employees don’t know their company’s vision. Given this, and the current cynicism towards business and its contribution to society, you should be focusing on your reason for being, not just return on investment.

That’s the key to nurturing bonds with your employees that are both emotional and rational.

Reconnecting with your vision and values enables you to foster stronger relationships with your customers and achieve higher levels of internal engagement.

Working closely with your leadership teams, management and front-line staff, we will assess your current values and how relevant and meaningful they are to people. We’ll also explore innovative and creative ways of bringing to life who you are and what you stand for.

And through innovative engagement programmes we’ll help to remove any barriers between employer, employees and their customers, inspiring them all with a shared sense of purpose they can believe in.

Our work spans

• Qualitative customer and stakeholder research
• Quantitative research
• Competitor mapping and benchmarking
• Internal stakeholder research
• Employee proposition development
• Key message development
• Stakeholder management
• Alignment with business initiatives
• Embedding framework planning
• Workshops, events, tools and training
• Behaviour definition and change
• Internal communications
• Brand language

Today’s customers are smarter about how much they spend, what they’re buying and who they’re buying it from. Around 58% of them are now focusing on what they need, rather than what they want - up by 7% on 2008. With business experts believing that such customer attitudes will linger long after the recession ends, are you in touch with exactly what’s changed and how that change is impacting on your customers?

Your information, insights and experiences may no longer count. Simply doing what you’ve done before because it succeeded then is not the answer. What you need to know is what you need to do to succeed now.

Our research led approach, combined with our marketing and creative capabilities will help to reveal whether you need to switch your attentions elsewhere. Or whether you need to adjust – or totally change – what you offer and how you offer it.

Whatever the answer, we’ll give you the confidence to act.

Customers and employees are the ones who matter most to you. Consulting them rather than the usual economic bell-weathers is essential to thrive in this climate. The times demand action and so do they.

Because if you don’t do something for your customers, someone else will.

Our work spans

• Qualitative market research
• Audience segmentation
• Key message development
• Best practice models
• Marketing strategy
• Brand identity
• Naming
• Creative platform development
• Campaign planning and execution
• Content generation and copywriting
• Marketing literature
• Digital

With so little certainty around and so many challenges to face, it doesn’t take long to lose focus. Feeling nervous about what you should or shouldn’t be saying creates confusion. Once you’ve lost your confidence, you’re in danger of losing sight of what once excited your audiences. You become quiet and bland. And you’re not alone – 76% of people feel that company communications are too full of jargon…

Take a closer look at what you’re saying and who’s listening. It’s often the best way to establish whether you’re meeting the expectations of your established audiences while telling your new audiences what they need to hear from you.

Our creative teams can help reinvigorate your communications – visually and verbally – by injecting renewed precision and purpose into what you want to say to your audiences, internal and external. The result is a renewed, and refreshing, sense of energy and direction.

Our skills span print, digital, film and 3D. And we take a long-term view: supporting you and your team long after the initial work so that you get the most from your investment.

So, even if you’re unsure about everything else, celebrate – and communicate – the unique strengths that made you great. It’s time to be recognised for the right reasons.

Our work spans

• Communications audits
• Creative platform development
• Communication strategies
• Key message development
• External and internal campaigns
• Marketing literature
• Content generation and copywriting
• Corporate reporting
• Websites
• Internal creative support
• Digital
• Events

LSN, an organisation that is focused on making learning work for organisations and their people, launched its new brand this month. The move signals LSN’s intention to take the expertise it has established through its work in the further education sector to schools, local authorities, work-based learning organisations, higher education and public services. The new brand was created by independent brand agency UffindellWest and has been carried across both print and online communications (www.lsnlearning.org.uk)

LSN provides consulting, outsourcing, research, technology and training services. Its work is underpinned by a powerful body of research and a heritage that spans over 25 years. It has a long track record in running successful government programmes that improve outcomes for learners. LSN was established in 2006 and evolved out of LSDA (Learning and Skills Development Agency).

With a newly defined mission, ‘making learning work - from classroom to boardroom’, UffindellWest worked with the executive team to develop a brand strategy which will allow LSN to extend its learning expertise into new markets.

The new brand identity is an evolution of the original square graphic device. The creative platform takes ownership of the colour red and uses distinctive graphics featuring red icons. The brand has standout in a sector dominated by blue and montages of smiling learners. The brand launch is being underpinned by the launch of a raft of new products and research initiatives designed to inform what makes learning work.

Sholto Lindsay-Smith, Managing Director, UffindellWest, said: “The current economic context highlights the need for innovation in learning to enable practitioners, employers, businesses and government to ensure we have the learning and skills in place for the future. LSN is now neatly positioned to fulfil this need.”

Janet Morris, Interim Marketing Director, LSN, said: “We have been working at a rapid pace to launch the new brand to the market ahead of the new academic year. UffindellWest has worked very closely with our online, new product development and marketing teams, to implement the brand, which now runs through every part of the business. And as the learning and skills industry becomes more competitive, our new brand will allow us to stand out and build a bigger brand presence, reinforcing our mission of making learning work.”